Just realized I've not been on this board in a year. But I guess that's because I've been on my giant windsurfing board. I'm looking to graduate to an intermediate board and leave the beginner one behind. Looking for suggestions from you guys.

I have an old 88L westwind that I would like to ride one day but it seems so hard right now. I managed to get on it this past week via a beach start in about waist deep water and ride directly down wind for about 40 or so yards before I lost balance and fell in. I managed to repeat that 2 more times getting a little better at riding each time but having great difficulty getting started on the board each and every time. Took like 20 attempts to get on the board and get going before actually being able to ride a short distance. It's just way too skinny and sinks immediately as soon as I get on it. I feel I may just be too heavy for it at 180 pounds.

What say you? Is it asking too much of that board to float a guy my size?

Also. What size board, liter, length, width? Do you recommend going to next for an intermediate board for me? I've been using the AHD Zen 230 for the last two seasons and I'm ready to move up.

Some day, that board will rip under you, but not today, and yes, if you're
asking 88 ltrs to "float" you, you're asking too much. 88 litrers will float
194 lbs. Take your 180 lbs and add a wetsuit and harness and the rig
weight and you're going down if there's no wind.

You'll want to shift down to maybe 140 ltrs first, unless you get consistent
20+MPH winds at your location.

For reference, I weight 185lbs, and my go to board in the Gorge is 79 ltrs,
on which I ride 5.2 to 3.7 sails. But, I also have a ~95 ltr board for when
it's 15-20 there, and I have a 115 ltr board for 15-20 in Utah (where wind
is less consistent, and a 155 ltr board for 12-15 in Utah (with a 9.5 sail).

When I dropped from my 220 ltr BIC to a 150 ltr HighFly in the 1980s, it
was a good drop for rapid learning and not too much frustration

.02

-Craig

davidcdanna8941 wrote:

Just realized I've not been on this board in a year. But I guess that's because I've been on my giant windsurfing board. I'm looking to graduate to an intermediate board and leave the beginner one behind. Looking for suggestions from you guys.

I have an old 88L westwind that I would like to ride one day but it seems so hard right now. I managed to get on it this past week via a beach start in about waist deep water and ride directly down wind for about 40 or so yards before I lost balance and fell in. I managed to repeat that 2 more times getting a little better at riding each time but having great difficulty getting started on the board each and every time. Took like 20 attempts to get on the board and get going before actually being able to ride a short distance. It's just way too skinny and sinks immediately as soon as I get on it. I feel I may just be too heavy for it at 180 pounds.

What say you? Is it asking too much of that board to float a guy my size?

Also. What size board, liter, length, width? Do you recommend going to next for an intermediate board for me? I've been using the AHD Zen 230 for the last two seasons and I'm ready to move up.

I have 4 sails. I have a 7.5, 6.5, 6.3 and 5.5. I rarely use the 7.5 since it only goes with the heavy fiberglass mast that I don't like using because it's so heavy. I have a carbon mast that I use with the 6.5 and 5.5 and find I don't really use the 6.3 much at all.

Here in south Louisiana, we typically get 10-15mph days in the spring like today. It will occasionally pop up to 15-20 with 25gusts from the south the day preceding a cold front passing through, like we will see this coming Wednesday. Unfortunately with my work schedule I get to ride maybe once or twice every other week.

Summer time sucks here. We sometimes see 5-10mph on sunny days and that's a "windy day." Most of the time it's like 4-8mph summertime weather.

I have a decent skill set I like too think. I ride standup jetskis mostly year round, I water ski, wakeboard/kneeboard. Snowski about once a season when I get up to the mountains. I did manage to ride in the lake on my 5.5/ big bertha board this past hurricane season when Harvey was churning over Houston, that was epic. The lake was as rough as I've ever seen it. So I'm not afraid to get into big wind.

So yeah, Hopefully that kinda gives you a better idea of maybe what I should look for. I like the 140L suggestion. Any good boards in the 140L range I should be keeping an eye out for? Should I try to find one with a foil mount? Anyone here riding foils? Should I not worry about foiling right now??

Are you dependable with your waterstarts in both directions? That's kind of necessary prerequisite for buying a smaller volume board.

Regarding the potential for foiling, I would definitely buy a foil capable board given your local conditions. While I wouldn't suggest a dedicated foil designed board right now, it would be optimum to focus on a board that can be used with either a regular fin or a foil. Also, I would think that it would offer you a better resale value once you are ready to move on to something else in the future.

I'm pretty comfortable doing deep water starts wind coming from over my left shoulder. Right side, not so much. I prefer my left. Although I can do them over right I get tossed more when I finally get up. With That big 230 board I usually have to plant a foot on each side of the mast foot and center myself and wait for a gust to pick me up, and sometimes that's a barely pick me up...because the wind I find has to be blowing at least 15mph gusting 20 for a water start. otherwise I'm just drowning under the weight of the sail waiting for wind. My location makes it really hard to water start. Winds are usually way too light and unreliable.

I like the idea of fin or foil though, any suggestions on board brand/model that has this option?

Before looking for something smaller, I would become more proficient on your Zen. It can hold sails up to 10.5 and with foot straps, you could be planing with good speed in winds above 12-15 with the right sail.

Even if you go to something around the 140L range, you will need to use your 7.5 and maybe an 8.5 to take advantage (get it planing) of the smaller board. No reason to go smaller if you aren't planing. A 6.5 should get you planing in winds around 18-20 mph on a 140L board, so the board will not do you much good unless you use bigger sails, but even then, an 8.5 will only allow you to plane in maybe 13-15 mph winds (with pumping).

The down side of the Zen is that it's somewhat heavy and large, meaning that it takes more horsepower to get it planing, plus in winds over 20, it could be a handful at your skill level assuming it's moving at it's upper speed range.

Oh it Planes. I've even had it on plane with my 5.5 for the hurricane. It will plane 6.5 all day long with 15-20mph winds. The thing is it just takes so much effort to get it up to that speed that when it finally breaks the water tension it get's slightly out of control. I'm kind of a speed freak so that was one of the first things I learned on this big ass barge was how to get low and just hang on till she scoots up out of the water.

Hooked in yes. Dagger board is fixed. So, always down via two thru bolts that hold it to the bottom of the board. And, zero straps on this board. Bought it without straps. Never put any on. Are foot straps really needed? What is the benefit if any of being strapped in? All I can think of is maybe flying over waves in rough water and keeping you rooted. But this board more or less plows through waves rather than skip over them. Haven't felt the need for foot straps yet....

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